But for thirty minutes of this historic FA Cup epic Chasetown were dreaming the impossible dream writes Russell Brown.

For thirty minutes in this, their tenth game in a marathon cup run that started back in mid August, Chasetown were leading the only team to have taken the world’s most famous domestic trophy out of England, Cardiff City and the Nation wondered if there was to be another fairy tale ending to the story. But within two of the four allocated injury time minutes, former Aston Villa midfielder Peter Whittingham became the literal villain of the piece netting a curling shot from the edge of the area and the Bluebirds reached the sanctuary of their unfamiliar dressing room with breathing space and a chance to regroup on level terms.

The Scholars had sent the media scrambling to their lines of communication in the 17th minute of the game when Dean Perry’s ball out to the right was collected by Ben Steane. The talented midfielder had time to glance up as he took the ball towards the edge of the Cardiff area, spotting the run that Kyle Perry was making. Steane delivered in the perfect low cross towards the striker and with keeper Michael Oakes flat footed, the former Wolves and Aston Villa keeper could not prevent the ball from finding the bottom corner of the net after Scottish right back Ken McNaughton had inadvertently deflected the ball low past his own keeper.

The Scholars ground erupted over three sides, acclaiming another amazing part of a stunning cup run. Some even had the bizarre experience of watching as Sky announced that their heroes had taken the lead on the big screen in the Chasetown clubhouse.

The defence looked solid as Vaughan Thomas, Joe Williams and Chris Slater who had the most to prove to former boss Dave Jones, held firm against a side boasting a striking line up that included an England u21 international and two Welsh internationals in Whittingham, Parry and Ledley.

Cardiff had the guile, the experience and the pace. Chasetown countered with a fantastic work rate, with players finding that extra yard to hold players that had probably never even trained on a ground like Church Street. The game was on a knife edge, especially for the 600 Bluebird fans in the Bypass end of the ground.

But the equaliser came as a body blow and the second half belonged to the Championship side. On the hour, the Scholars defence were unable to stop Tony Capaldi’s cross being headed into the path of Aaron Ramsey by Paul Parry and the 17 year old marked his Cardiff debut with a close range header that gave keeper Lee Evans no chance.

With Danny Smith replacing Perrow, the hero of the Port Vale replay added another dimension to the attack and Capaldi needed to stop the tricky striker by foul means as Smith tried to break his way into a good position. From the free kick from Mark Branch, Oakes came out well to claim.

However the game was put beyond the home side when on 72 minutes Joe Ledley’s diagonal pass left Parry with a shooting opportunity that he took early to cruelly find the net through the legs of Evans.

There was still a moment of hope for the Scholars when Dutch defender Glen Loovens short back pass had Karl Edwards looking to pounce, but Oakes rescued the former Feyenoord player’s blushes by just reaching the ball ahead of the substitute.

The final whistle brought a well deserved lap of honour for the losers as they were warmly applauded off the pitch by all sides of a record 2,420 crowd.

It had all been so surreal. The festival atmosphere, the hoards of press and media turning Church Street into a mini Fleet Street for the day. The celebrities mixing with the supporters and the well drilled masses of Cardiff City stewards and Staffordshire Police on hand to ensure that everyone had the chance to enjoy the day for what it was. - A return of the magic of the FA Cup.

Chasetown: Evans, J Branch, M Branch, Slater, Thomas, Williams, Steane, Hawkins, Perry (Edwards, 79 mins), Perrow (D Smith, 56 mins), Holland (Spacey, 77 mins)

Other subs: Sargeant, S Smith (not used)